Best Ways to Hide Pills & Medication for Dogs

16Mar

I had a long conversation this week with one of our best repeat customers. She was wondering what soft treats we have that she might put a pill into for her dog. The dog bit into a pill once, and ever since, has been very suspicious of any treat used to camouflage a pill.

He gets the pill out of whatever she uses to hide it, and eats the treat, leaving the pill behind. He does this with cheese, peanut butter, even commercial treats made for this purpose, such as Pill Pockets. She’s trying to use soft treats and mix them up to keep him guessing. I have her a few ideas (I’d been through the daily medication dance with an epileptic Dachshund I once had) but she’d already tried them all.

So I told her I’d post a question on our Blog. How do you hide your dog’s pills? Does any of you have a particularly talented dog who has thwarted the usual methods for hiding pills? Do you have a better way to feed pills to these dogs? Please share with the rest of us any methods other than those I’ve mentioned which have worked for you.

Shawn, this one’s for you.

This is a new option on the market. Moist, soft, slightly “juicy” so the dog swallows them instead of biting down on them. Has anyone tried them?

Like this:

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87 responses to “Best Ways to Hide Pills & Medication for Dogs”

Melissa Morris

March 27, 2007 at 4:40 pm

After doing the daily pill dance with a dog on daily medication, I finally resorted to buying a pill crusher and mixing the pills with enough soft food that the dog couldn’t taste it. Since canned food is considered a treat at our house, they usually gobble it down. I’ve used this method to pill cats, as well.

The only problem with crushing the pill is that it may not be effective once it is crushed. It is very important to check with your vet to know what type of pill it is. Some are on time releases and crushing them ruins their effectiveness.

The best thing I have found for my dog are the “Pill Pockets” he loves them. Cyrus is a Sheppard/Rott/Chow mix, about 80 lbs. He has a siezure disorder. One of his meds that he get 2x’s a day is a compound mixture in a capsule. In the past, if it got stuck in his throat, or if he got any taste of it, he would throw it back up. Never an issue now with the Pill Pockets. They are are godsend! No more food tricks (which he eventually figured out) or getting slimed by sticking it down his throat. I hope this is helpful.

Is it epilepsy? My dog had seizures and the vet said it was epilepsy. They started every 6 months or so then became more frequent. I read something about extra virgin coconut oil helping, I didn’t want to resort to pills. He hasn’t had one since being on them, actually I ran out for about three weeks and he didn’t have any oil and he ended up having one. I swear it works.

I wrap my dogs daily medicine in cream cheese and have another portion of cream cheese ready to go. I show my dog both pieces and allow her to have the pill-laced one first. She is so anxoius to get the second piece she hardly notices the “additive” in the first one!

After experiencing the same problem with my suspicious dachshund, I finally found that a little bit of melted cheddar cheese was the one thing that she couldn’t resist. I crushed the pill, melted the cheese, mixed it up and before I knew it she was waiting for me by the fridge every morning! Good luck!

I, too, have a very smart/tricky dog! I took you and Kerin’s advice. I put the cream cheese around the pill to disguise the smell of a pill, then melted the cheese (cheddar) and wrapped the cream covered pill in the melted pill. He tried to get the pill away from the melted cheese, but couldn’t!
Ah ha! Plus, I gave him bits of hot dog before and after. Seems like a bunch of trouble, but whatcha gunna do?? LOL

Fay here, the melted cheese worked for awhile, but soon my 12 year old caught on again. So I took some raw hamburger and put a little garlic power on it along with some olive oil (that helps it go down easier) and that worked … for today at least! I hope you find something for your little guy.

Alida

October 16, 2012 at 4:58 pm

Thanks Fay I will give that a try! I am willing to try anything at this point.

IF NOTHING ELSE WORKS. This is what I had to do. If your dog won’t bite your hands try this. I have a little yorkie who I tried the pill pocket on and she didn’t eat it again after she tasted the pill. She evens hides when she hears the pop of the medicine bottle. So I have to force her to take it. I grab her face and force open the mouth I put the pill inside the mouth (on the side) and then I keep her mouth shut by holding her mouth closed with my index and thumb. Think of it like when you make the OK sign. This way she can’t throw it out and she is able to breathe and she chews it. In my case it’s an antibiotic and her life depends on it so I had to do it forcibly. I tried all the other suggestiions first.

My dog recently developed seasonal allergies and the pill issue is always a problem. I had some very small tomatoes on the counter and I cut a gap in it and voila! He ate them with no problem! Off to buy more tomatoes! I have 9 more days to use them.

I just wanted to say how grateful I am that you thought to add this question to this forum. I was purposefully seeking out these types of suggestions when I came upon this forum. It is timely and helpful. I am not good (understatement) at the forcing thing. I know it and what’s worth, my cute little Pom knows it too. So encouraging the pill down with some kind of treat/food is my only way to go. I think I will try the soft dog food trip because he never gets it and I am sure he will lick the bowl clean if I put it in, crushed up and mixed well, with wet dog food.

My baby has several problems and takes several medications. We have tried so many things. One BIG one is that if they have allergies, my vet tells us to give her benedryl. The dose is the same as children’s Benedryl and they make all different versions of that to get it down for them. The strips have proven to be the easiest so far. And as for the others, we have tried just about everything. The only things I don’t see listed here are the vienna sausages (small little pieces only due to how it reacts with some of their bodies) and marshmallows. Also my fieance uses that canned cheese and she likes that too. And those heartworm pills come beef flavored now.

I have got a rotteweiler who is 9 now and i have recently found out that she has got Osteosarcoma which is bone cancer, we was originally told to prepare ourselves as we don’t have long left with her but she has proven us wrong and it has been 4 months now since it was first diagnosed. she is taking medication about 4-5 times a day and we are finding it difficult now as we started by using ham she realised our secret we then moved onto doggie sausages and again she found out so we resulted in cheese, she is still okay with the cheese but we are gettin concerned as she is puttin on too much weight and it is making things more complicated as she only has 3 legs she can use, i have been told by my old manager (kennel manager) to use a soft food called nature diet which is a soft food i can mould the pill around but i dont know if she will eat this. does anyone know where i can get the pill pouches from and just explain to me what they are please? i shall be greatful for any feedback. Keri

My pug has an amazing nose and he could smell the pill even when it was inside the pill pocket. I had tried putting his pill in pretty every other kind of food and every time he ate around the pill or spit it out.Then I got the bright idea of putting the pill inside the pill pocket and then putting that inside soft food. Voila! That was enough layers to hide the taste and smell of the pill.

I use peanut butter to hide the pill(s). It’s sticky, so the pills stick to the peanut butter making it hard for the dog to seperate the pills from the peanut butter. And the dog keeps licking for several minutes after you give them the peanut butter/pills causing the dog to continuing swallowing, no regurtation!

my poor 4 y/o lab mix has developed allergies pretty bad this year so we’ve been trying to give her benadryl daily. i used to be able to wrap it in lunchmeat and she would gobble it down. She’s figured out sometimes things are hidden in treats so she will take the treat no matter what it is then put it on the floor and eat it slowly, leaving the pill behind. I’ve forced it on her before but I feel terrible doing that because she looks so scared after. My wife is at the store buying the dissolvable strips now. I hope that works! Otherwise I’ll be trying the pill pockets for sure.

I have a Jack Russell, just diagnosed with Fanconi Syndrome. Needless to say she numerous pills daily now. She however, also was able to sniff out all pills regardless of what I used to camoflauge. Now, I have her sit in front of me with her belly facing forward, leaning back against my chest. Pry open her mounth, push the pill back as far as possible close mouth with one hand and hold closed while rubbing up and down her neck with the other hand, causing her to swollow. Works great! Just have to catch her first!

I had a retired racing greyhound who had to get daily meds and was pretty savvy at getting around the pill and eating the treat. I lived in Tucson, Arizona at the time and there was a compounding pharmacy. I was able to get the meds by postal mail after I moved. Check to see if there is a Compounding Pharmacy nearby. They will need the prescription. I was able to get her meds made into a chicken soup flavored liquid (there were many flavor choices) that I either squirted into her mouth or onto her food. She looked forward to it. It stayed in the refrigerator. Its harder to spit out a liquid, too. This pharmacy serviced people, too.

My Jack Russell needs to take a large pill 2x a day on an empty stomach. He is not eating and the vet thinks he has a bleeding ulcer. He is very aggressive and bit me when I tried to give him the pill which the vet said to grind and make a paste and gave me a syrinch to give him the pill. I had to muzzle him and he got so aggressive and was fighting me and the medication was all over the muzzle and me. I do not know how I can do this. Has anyone else had this problem? I cannot disguise the pill because he is not eating anything and because he has to take it on an empty stomach. I cannot open his mouth because he will chew my hand off. He is going to be 15 years old and I know he does not feel good and he does not know that I am trying to help him.

Okay, so all of my life i’ve had larger dogs (my family currently has a 2 year old Great Pyrenese and an 8 year old Chow/Rot mix). For them, we can just roll the pills in a chesse slice, and they’re sooo excited they just swallow it whole without even noticing! However, for my 22nd birthday, I bought myself a Teacup Porkie (Pomeranian/Teacup Yorkie) to better fit my lifestyle. I was given a chewable pill for GI diseases that is the size of a quarter and is about a half an inch tall. I CANNOT get her to eat this thing for the life of me! Because of all of my attempts, she now hates cheese, peanut butter, and me for that matter. Anyway, my boss just recommended mashing up the treat and mixing it with water (or any other liquid substance healthy for dogs to intake). If they won’t drink it out of their bowl, he said to put it into a syringe. I haven’t tried this yet, but so far it sounds pretty easy to me!! Just thought i’d share!! Good luck everyone!!
❤ xoxo

My old English Setter takes about 12 pills a day (more if on antibiotics) and used to take them nicely when covered by peanut butter and/or commercial pill pockets. Not any more. I did find that switching to new peanut butter brands and styles, cheese types, commercial products and other pill covers will work for a while on each product. Lately I wrapped some soft white bread around each pill and had good success. Hvarti cheese was the best consistency and taste for her — a 3 oz piece was good for over a week’s worth of pills. Hot dogs didn’t work at all because she chews them and spits the pills out. I also have luck sometimes by not pushing the issue immediately and giving the pills a little later. Typically the smaller the overall “package” the better she’ll take them. I also put some pills in a coconut-flavored yogurt and spooned the yogurt and pill into her mouth. I’m concerned that this may have caused her to inhale some of the yogurt, however.

Our dog, Charley recently had surgery and does NOT like the taste of the pill for pain relief. We have had the most success with using a slippery food (melted cheese or peanut butter). Each thing we have tried only works for a short time, until she gets wise to what is going on. She is one of those dogs that can eat around just about anything you try to use and then spit out the pill. When we tried forcing it down her throat, she started foaming at the mouth to try to get as much of it out as she could and then she vomited up the pill.

When we finally figured out that we need to hide the scent of the pill from her in something slippery, we started having better success. Try warming up a small piece of cheese in the microwave (don’t let it start bubbling because then the cheese is going to be hard instead of soft and slippery). Carefully put the pill in the middle of the cheese and then fold the cheese over the pill with a knife, being sure to completely cover the pill (and the scent of the pill). Charley has refused to eat cheese with no pill in it when the cheese had the scent of the pill on it).

We also use a “chaser” as some other people have noted. A “chaser” is something to distract her from what you just gave her and hopefully keep her from trying to chew the slippery pocket with the pill in it. A good chaser for her has been yoghurt, since she has been on antibiotics for a long time.

Usually peanut butter works best when I give my husky, Fenris, his pills. Unfortunately, this time he is on a bland diet of nothing but tuna and rice for a week to settle his stomach (he may have IBD) and its quite impossible to fully hide his pill in it!

The first time I tried hiding it he just licked off all the tuna and rice, leaving a half dissolved pill in his bowl, haha! What I’m trying to do now is make a little ball of mushed up rice and/or tuna around it. Oh how I miss you, peanut butter. You were truly a lifesaver…

I, too, have had excellent luck with Pill Pockets by Greenies. My dog has never avoided a single pill as long as it was stuck in a Pill Pocket. He, too, has a seizure disorder and takes 2 pills a day and he actually looks forward to it. As soon as hears me opening that Pill Pocket pouch he comes running from anywhere in the house. It’s the best way to give a dog a pill.

My dog recently has had back problems for the past two months which has resulted in back surgery. Prior to surgery he got to the point of not trusting the treats I would give him to hide the pills. At the hospital they hide the pills in a cat food meatball which seemed to work well or crushed them into yogurt. I tried these methods at home but had no luck. I eventually found that peanut butter did the trick, at least for now. I may have to change to hotdogs if he figures it out again. Hope this helps.

I make a special casserole for my dogs. A little rotisserie chicken, brown rice, steamed carrots and green beans. Crush up the medication and mix well. Top with a sprinkle of shredded cheese or cottage cheese and you’ve got it made!

My German Shepherd has to take many pills (some can be crushed, some cannot. The crushed pills are mixed into Science Diet AD (can only be purchased at the vet) or meat-flavored baby food (ham/chicken/beef/lamb). That works pretty well, usually. And he also takes enzymes for pancreatic enzyme insuffiency..those go into the wet Science Diet or into the baby food. If he has an upset stomach, though, he won’t take it. He hates Pill Pockets, but we have had short term success with a variety of other ways to get pills into him (he always figures out that we are “tricking” him. Velveeta, cream cheese rolled into a lunch meat rollup, liverwurst was a hit for some time, vienna sausages, hot dogs, Spam, canned potted meat, little cocktail sausages, the canned squeeze cheese, cat food meatball concoctions…all have gone by the wayside, since he figures out that pills might be lurking in them. He chews everything thoroughly (no gulping) to find any pills (and hates peanut butter..so weird). I’m trying pre-made, pre-cooked meatballs tonight. He has osteosarcoma (bone cancer) so it is heartbreaking when we can’t get pills into him. He also takes Benadryl, so I may try to strips to see if that will work (two fewer pills to fight about!)…great tip!

The best way I have found for pills that aren’t taken everyday is to ball up 3 pieces of bread (my dog LOVES bread). I put the pill in one of them and make sure that the bread completely covers it and that the “seams” can’t come apart. I show her all the pieces and give the pill one second. She gets the first normal piece, sometimes chews it but normally just swallows it, gulps down the second and the third pieces. Since she sometimes chews the first one (even though they are small pieces), I have to give the medication a second piece and to make sure she doesn’t chew that, she gets a third.

For her every day medications I crush them, mix with some yogurt and freeze them. I use an ice cube tray and one 6oz can of yogurt. I put them in a bag and just pick one out each morning. It is a little obnoxious to make them all at once, but I like it more than doing it daily. It is easier than giving bread and the frozen yogurt hides the texture while it’s unfrozen counterpart does not. She loves them and thinks they are treats.

For fish oil, before trying to get them to take the pill, either get liquid or snip the end of a liquid capsule and squeeze it onto their food. I squeeze it on top of her food, add a little water and mix it. She loves it. I’ve heard that most dogs will take fish oil or diluted fish oil, so you don’t have to fight with the pill.

My pug (17 pounds) became very ill and it lasted 3-4 days. After we realized this wasn’t a little cold that would go away we took him to the vet. They have him 2 medications. One for pain, and another for a severe internal infection. (baytril and tramadol) we tried cheese, peanut butter, chicken cubes, pill pockets, you name it, we tried it. He would get the treat and spot the pill right out. Best trick and tip that works EVERY time, is to cut up a hot dog in bite size pieces, and stick the pill inside the hot dog. He never ate a hot dog before so I wasn’t sure it would work, but sure enough, he eats it every time. So the best trick, and only trick that works for my dog is ironically enough, HOT DOG.

Pill pockets are definitely the way to go! My Lab won’t even sniff the offering if he suspects a pill is in it. With pill pockets, he has no idea! I usually order huge quantities of pill pockets because my poor old dog needs a lot of pills!

one that finally worked for me was taking the pill and wrapping it in a small ball of whole wheat bread and then snipping a fish oil pill (one of my own) and squeezing some on the bread. It works, offered some with the 1/2 of pill and some pain and another 1/2. thanks

My 10 year old lab gets 2 pills twice daily for his epilepsy. He has no problems taking his pills. He comes when he hears the pill bottle and sits. Opens his mouth loosely so I can open his mouth more by holding his upper jaw. In goes the pill and he swallows. Thank goodness he takes them so well. My six month old puppy just needs the pill and a bit of peanut butter and he’s good to go. I understand how frustrating it can be though, but don’t worry eventually all of you (that haven’t found a good way yet) will find one that will work

My cocker spaniel ate sucessfully her pills when i crushed them and mixed with chicken soup. Dont put too much human food because later on your dog will lost interest in dog food and would want just human food.

I’ve had pretty good success 2 ways. First, making a small plate of little canned food meatballs, giving one without the pill first, then the one with the pill followed by an immediate meatball chaser. It also helps to have the other dogs around, to create “demand”. This works even better with little rolled bits of lunchmeat, which I can eat to divert suspicion. Just be careful to give the pill to the right dog. I’ve had a harder time with capsules, they must smell stronger. Lately, I’ve taken Penne pasta, cooked some, slipped the capsule inside, dip each end in something (cheese, sauce, dog food, etc.) to seal off the smelly open ends, and it slips right in!

Just a note — a lot of people are suggesting crushing medication. Please note that some pills are not supposed to be crushed — they dissolve slowly in your dog’s stomach in order to provide a regular dose over time.

My dog could care less about food these days…I even cook for him and he ignores it. He has never been motivated by food – which is a good thing when there is food out – he doesn’t beg. But now that he is 12 and losing weight and needs his medication for his arthritis, I am struggling to get his pills into him. I have tried deli meat. Cheese. Peanut butter. Hot dogs. FILET MIGNON! He knows right away – too smart for his own good! I cannot “pill” him by holding his mouth shut or I will lose a finger or a hand. Any suggestions for a really difficult adult dog not interested in food? His medication really helps him so I want to keep it going but he just won’t take it and then suffers. Help!

We have had lots of dogs over the years (we are over 60 and have had 3 shepherds and 5 Dalmatians and a few strays).We’ve tried all of the above…peanut butter,cat food, hot dogs, lunch meat, cheese, bread with all kinds of stuff on it, including fish oil, stuffing pills down the throat (ouch). Nothing works more than once or twice before thay catch on. Best to not have the pill smell on your hands no matter what you try. Takes 2 people,one to do the pill in whatever you try, and one to do the feeding.

Hi Kate, that is really helpful – he must smell the pills on our hands and/or expect that when yet another hot dog piece is put in front of him, it has a yucky pill in it. I had success today with some raw ground beef and garlic powder (a great suggestion from Fay on this site!). Thanks so much.

my dog wont let me near his mouth. he needs to take robitussin cough/cold med dm.
smells it on his food. any sugestions on how to give this to him. it is liquid form.

Ariane

November 23, 2012 at 11:50 am

My English Bulldog has chronic seasonal, non-seasonal and food allergies. She’s allergic to most major proteins, dairy, eggs, among other things. The derm vet now has her on daily cyclosporine therapy. We were doing the peanut butter thing, which she LOVES, but she seems to have acquired an allergy to peanut butter, ugh. Doc says not to crush the pill and even suggested we try to not let her chew it, but rather swallow whole. Since cheese, marshmallows, canned food and the like are out I’m looking for a new approach.

I’ll definitely give the banana and cherry tomatoes a try. She does love tangerines so sticking it in a slice of that may be another idea.

One idea for those who say the smell of the pill is a problem, here’s a trick from our vet… put it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before administering. It helps to mask the smell of most medications.

I’m having pretty good luck with cat food, the ground up looking kind. My dog was on to me with everything else, after a while, so I now have been taking a tiny bit of cat food, make it into a little ball, and give it to him without anything in it. Then I take another little meatball hunk of cat food, in which the pill is hidden, and actually, I usually drop it on the floor like I didn’t mean to, and he practically falls over himself to get to it. He just inhales it, I guess because he thinks he’s getting away with something. I act like he’s getting something he’s not supposed to. This method has been working the longest now for me, with him not being onto my trick for over 4 months now. I just keep the can in the fridge and cover it up with foil, which makes it easier to make into a meatball because it is cold. Just be sure to get the “classic” kind, or whatever is like ground meat.

My English bulldog also has allergys we are recently trying holistic therapy he was on cyclosporine and the doctor says when dogs especially bulldogs come in and our taking atopica or generic cyclosporine that she tries getting them off of it immediately if you are still experiencing allergy problems I would suggest seeing a non traditional doctor because they will most likely slowly take them off the medicines and start your bulldogs diet over from scratch after allergy testing to several things you give him and in your home. this is not cheap but my bulldog went from bloodshot red taking cyclosporine, claritin, clamicalm, and many other traditional medicines to a white happy and energetic dog. also we give him his pills ( the ones were weening him off of and new herbs) in a raw meat pattie called barf the flavor was specially picked for his particular allergies but it really works

Hi Sadie, Mine was also not eating because he was in pain, which was a challenge especially since the pills were for his pain! I tried everything from filet (!!) to cheese to catfood and peanut butter. one of the comments I got was to use raw ground beef seasoned with some garlic powder. I roll it into a meatball size with the pill inside. Then I wash my hands to be sure there is no trace of the pills on my hands. Sometimes it takes more than one try but if the pill is really in deep, he takes it. He is in less pain now and is eating again! Good luck!! Alida

Sadie,
Since your dog is not interested in food, and he’s bitten you, maybe you could try one of those long pill poppers that you stick the pill on and then put it in his mouth. We have one, and honestly, I found it a little tricky to use, but in your case you might have luck. There is a little rubber thing on the end that you put the pill into and the main thing to do is to put it as far back in your dog’s mouth as possible, as close as possible to his throat, then press the little plunger and the pill “should” go down his throat. That way, if he bites down, it’ll save your fingers. Here’s a link for one:

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I hold the pill with my index and middle finger, open her mouth with my other hand and carefully place the pill on the back of her tongue. She swallows immediately and barely notices the pill. I then treat with cheese in case she tasted the pill and also so that she swallows (to make sure the pill went down. Works every time and she enjoys it every time (because of the treat). My hand fits because she is a medium size dog (boxer) . : )

I thought I was the only one going threw this my min-pin was bleeding under her skin had a blood transfusion and 6 days in the hospital and still they do not know WHY! So far 2 months no problem with giving her 5 pills a day now all she does is eat around the pill I have tryed peanut butter,liverwurst,cheese and forcing not a good thing very stubborn dog! I hope some of the remidies I’ve read may help if the don’t I’m in fear of loosing her.

My dog with CHF was on a lot of pills and the best thing that worked for me was braunsweiger. She really loves it. You can purchase it by the bologna in the grocery store, not really sure of it’s spelling.

Can someone help? I have a 265 pound English mastiff who is on medication for seizures. He is not finniky so I don’t have any problems feeling him pills. My problem is that I ALSO have a 5 pound longhaired chihuahua. My mastiff has an issue with the way he chews in that everything he eats somehow or another gets stuck in his lips or around his jaws. Even when we give him pills in things he doesn’t have to chew as much or in peanut butter we still noticed sometimes halves or even whole pills would get stuck into his mouth and find their way to the floor. This is a problem for my chihuahua because she got ahold of one and it nearly killed her. This is the second time we are taking her to the vet for the same problem and I am scared her little body won’t be able to handle this anymore. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions as to how I can absolutely assure my mastiff has taken his pills so that my little one will not be able to get ahold of one anymore. I feel like we are desperate at this point because we have tried so many things that have not worked. Please help.

I am glad that I found this web page. It has given me a few different ideas in which I may try to give pills to my 15 year old Miniature Pinscher, Serenity. Pill taking started last year when we moved. We found that she became exposed to something growing around our new home that she was allergic to. I had given her children’s benadryl, the chewable grape flavor, in the past, but benadry didn’t solve this allergic reaction. The vet prescribed her Prednisone pills, which weren’t too bad because the pills are small and only had to be given every other day. We gave them to her in peanut butter, as many others have suggested. This year, she has been having some trouble getting her back legs to work under her. I figured this was a hip problem that comes along with her being 15 years old, so I took her to the vet. It surprised me when the vet said that she is actually suffering from a slipped disc in her back. One of the meds she gets for relief comes as a shot, but she is also supposed to take pain pills twice a day. Since she is small, at only 15 pounds, I only have to give her half of a 50mg Tramadol (Ultram) pill twice a day and half a Prednisone pill every other day for her allergies. While last year I was able to use peanut butter, I am afraid that she will start to turn down it if I have to give it to her this often. With my last dog we used hot dogs, but Serenity chews up everything and then she will find the pill. I don’t know about the melted cheese thing. That may work, but I really think she is gonna want to chew that up, too. Cheese cubes, I think will be the same. When I have given her cheese in the past, she has always chewed it up. I found it interesting when someone mentioned cream cheese. I know she likes cheese cake, so maybe cream cheese will be a good idea. I know with my last dog we were able to hide pills in macaroni noodles. I may try this too, eventually. My hopes are that I can find a few different food methods that work so she doesn’t shy away from just one method. She already gets canned RAW rabbit mixed with yogurt as her regular meal, so I don’t think that more canned food is going to entice her. I was able to hide it in her breakfast twice, but then today she caught on. I’d also rather not crush the pills, as that I think she will taste them more that way. Serenity is fairly finicky and she already eats well. For her, the Pill Pocket thing doesn’t work. The pills are small and it is hard to get them to stay inside the treat, but also she wants to chew them up – resulting in spitting out the pill. I believe our biggest issue is that she is small and she chews up almost everything. I need to find foods that I will be able to feed her that she will be able to get down without chewing. She is probably gonna have to take these pills for the rest of her life, so I want to make taking pills a pleasant experience and not have her start to hate me. She is an old dog and I want to keep her her happy during the remaining days of her life. The vet hopes that we can treat her with medications and not have to put her thru surgery, which he only wants to resort to if she starts to become paralytic. Hopefully that won’t happen.🙂

A few months ago, she didn’t quite jump high enough to land on the sofa. That is probably when she suffered this injury. She scared the crap out of me because she couldn’t stand for hours, only sit. I was happy when she was finally able to stand. I just thought she sprained something. Now, I know different. After that day, I started training her to come to us to be picked up and placed on the sofa and such. She only climbs up a few stairs to go outside, otherwise we carry her. She is also good at waiting to be put down from the sofa. We call it “elevator up” and “elevator down”. We are certainly having to come up with some ingenious ways to deal with her condition. I am sure that others who have, or have had, small dogs have had to do this, too. Any thoughts on this matter would be helpful, too. She certainly has more we have to deal with, since she is a small dog, rather than a bigger dog. With our last dog, we created a ramp with thin boards across, like they have in agility courses, to eliminate the step problems. I may also try this in the future.

I thank all in advance for their ideas on these matters. I will check back in the future to read additional postings on this site. I value everyone’s individual experiences equally. While some may not fit my dog, others will. I am also glad to pass on any idea gathered to other pet owners. Thanks so much for listening.🙂

My Westie sometimes gets a grumbly stomach so we give him Pepto bismal tablets. After trying to hide them in anything and everything I finally learned to just open his mouth, stick the pill way far back on his tongue, hold his mouth closed (as someone else suggested, and stroke his throat. he always swallows it. Of course I never have to worry about his biting me, he’s such a sweetie.

I just took a combination of the advice above and it worked! My Winston is a 9+ year-old basset hound who has always taken meds without a problem — I pop it down his throat with my hand, he gets a biscuit, and we go about our businesses. Now, though, he has some unexplained pain that seems to originate in his neck such that he has been uncomfortable on occasion with our usual practice. I obviously don’t want to hurt him while I am trying to help him. So, this morning, he got his three tramadols in three separate tiny dollops of cream cheese. After each little cream cheese/pill dollop, he got a little scrap of deli turkey. Worked like a charm, although I am a little worried about how the cream cheese will sit in his stomach. Thank you everyone!

Wow!!! My baby has very bad back and a keen sense of smell and taste. Tramadol and her are not very good friends. She smells it through raw beef, chicken, cheaddar abd even bacon fat. Tried every method on this site and after a few goes this is what works for her. The stinkyest blue cheese you can find take out a pill, put on teaspoon. Wash hands! Get cheese and squash flat. Use teaspoon to drop pill on cheese. Use clean hands to fold over cheese. Then the distraction: 1 normal bit of cheese. 1 will pull and then 1 more for washing it down. Woooooohooooooooo!!!!!

Giving dog pills is ever so difficult. The pill pouches have never worked for me. Instead of telling what doesn’t, let me get to what does: Liverwurst is my “go to” pill popping remedy. Eventually, they figure it out, so I head to cream cheese. Sometimes raw hamburger works. Wrapping the pill in can food meat ball forms works well to. The problem is that they always eventually figure it out. So now, I am yet again fighting cancer for the third time with a canine. The amount of pills is incredibly large. The pungent pills I can’t get away with putting in the food. But the ones I can, I open the capsules and dump in the bowl. The rest I crush up fine and throw it in the bowl. Now for the tricky part. The consistency and smell of the food has to overpower the pills. So, I home cook. Meats, veggies, rice, eggs, ect. There are tons of recipes online. It is also a good way to get in herbs and natural remedies. Throughout the day, I can get away with mashing a few and putting them in cottage cheese and/or yogurt. Hope any of these ideas help🙂

My 10 yr old chow mix was diagnosed with Lyme disease tonight. She has to take doxycycline for 6 weeks. No dairy allowed with doxy so all cheese is out. She is fussy, not motivated by food and hates peanut butter. She knows all the tricks, pill pockets, meatballs; no go. Even the flavored heart worm pills are a monthly challenge. Now I have a twice a day task to medicate her. Tonight I had to shove the pill in the back of her throat and almost lost my finger when she chomped and chewed to get me out of her mouth and now she won’t let me near her. I’m going to try the crushed pill in chicken soup in a syringe thing tomorrow. If that doesn’t work I’m going to cry. She’s limping from Lyme arthritis which started last night. And to think she was negative for Lyme just this past January. Damn ticks.

Liverwurst worked for one day. Then the hot dogs worked for about 5 days. Chicken worked then didn’t. I just can’t fool her. She is so delicate when she takes food if she could use a knife and fork she would! I have also crushed meds in chicken broth and syringed it into her mouth. It’s been a real drama fest for this 2weeks. And now today I found a tick biting on me! Ugh!!

Thanks for the suggestion but my Miss Fussy Pants doesn’t like wet dog food. I kid you not! She won’t eat it. She eats a combination of high quality all meat gluten/wheat/soy free dry food and raw medallions of beef. She’s a princess!

I have tried a lot of things to get my dogs to take pills, but my advice is to find that one treat that your dog “doesn’t even taste” as it goes down and use that. For example a piece of lunch meat never hits the floor around here so a pill wrapped up in a piece of ham goes down so quickly, there is no time to chew (or taste) the pill.

My mini dachshund is in chronic renal failure and has been for two years. She gets lots of meds each day and it’s always a challenge. Her dietary needs make hiding meds extra challenging. Low protein, low phosphorus, low purine, no salt. I can no longer put pills into her mouth because her mouth is sore almost all the time. I used a pill popper for a while, but can’t any longer. Most pills I can split into small pieces and give one piece at a time in a little beef or chicken baby food. She takes Azodyl a.m. and p.m. It’s a capsule and can’t be chewed or it won’t work. Her life pretty much depends on taking it, so that’s why I looked for this forum. For the last few weeks she would eat it on her own if I wrapped it in a bit of butter and spread some baby food on it, then sprinkled a phosphate binder on top. Not so much the last few days. I need something sticky or thick and very tasty to wrap it in that meets her dietary needs and can’t think of anything. She doesn’t like peanut butter or pill pockets. She can’t have cheese and doesn’t like yogurt. I keep thinking of Underwood chicken spread, but it’s too salty. Maybe raw burger. I don’t think it would be any more protein than the beef baby food. Guess I’ll give it a shot. Suggestions welcome!

What if you made your own chicken spread, minus the salt? I would think you could bake and puree some chicken meat and add something to it to make it a little sticky. Maybe like a sort of chicken salad without the seasonings?

i know its not the healthiest way but if you put the pill on the inside of a marshmallow and put a little peanut butter on it they gobble them down with out a fuss,,,,the smaller the dog the smaller the marshmallow…